Colleges Shouldn't Play The Rankings Game

It's reprehensible if colleges lure applicants so that they can reject them.

Do some elite colleges lure mediocre high school students into applying for admission just so the colleges can then reject them? That's the claim of a New Jersey high school senior in an article in the Washington Post, recently reprinted in The Courant.

If what she says is true — and colleges deny they do anything of the sort — the behavior is shameful.

Here's how it works, according to the student, Amanda Graves: Colleges try hard to attain a high place in the annual rankings of U.S. News & World Report and others. One of the criteria is selectivity: The more selective a school, the better.

Therefore, some colleges reach out to thousands of not-particularly-qualified high schoolers, hoping that they will apply, even though they clearly do not meet the school's standards and will be rejected — because that lowers the school's acceptance percentage, making it look harder to get into.

Ms. Graves quotes a letter she received from the dean of Yale College saying, "I hope that Yale remains among your top prospects" — though her grades are so-so, she's not a campus leader and, in her words, "I have approximately zero percent chance of getting in."

Yale says it is not interested in having unqualified students apply. U.S. News calls Ms. Graves' claim "a myth" because selectivity "accounts for such a small percentage of the ranking model."

Even if Ms. Graves is mistaken that she was recruited just to be denied admission, her article does raise awareness about college rankings, which receive way more attention from colleges than they deserve.

For years, experienced high school guidance counselors have preached that such lists mean little, and the "best" college is the one that most fully suits the specific goals and needs of the individual student.

College applicants should keep that in mind. And if colleges also were to not play the rankings game, so much the better.